By Orin
Davidson July 23rd, 2008
New York’s coach is crying foul after the Region’s team
lost its bid to win the United States Under-15 championship following
an arbitrary change of the format on the final day of the series Sunday.

NY/Connecticut
coach Linden Fraser.

California (Zone
Four) carted off the crown by playing unbeaten in their three games
with New York/Connecticut (Zone One) having to settle for second place
after losing their key match to the former team, at the Michael Camera
Park on the Chicago outskirts.

However, the New York/Connecticut team felt hard done
because that vital game was changed to a 20 overs clash instead of
the original 40 overs format after rain washed out all play in the
second round scheduled for Saturday.

“Our players had never played Twenty20 games
before, it was totally new to them and it was wrong to change a format
in the middle of the competition”. New York/Connecticut coach
Linden Fraser said.

The coach argued that the original competition rules
should have been adhered to where points are awarded for wins, draws
but none for no-results and losses.

If none of the teams were awarded points on Saturday,
following the washout, the matches on Sunday would have been vital
for the front runners.

Net run rate would’ve been used to determine
the eventual champions if two teams were tied on points.

According to reports, none of the teams were consulted
on the switch to 20 overs, being told that the decision was a directive
from the United States of America Cricket Association (USACA).

As a result the teams had to play two matches back
to back, comprising the second and third rounds on the one day on
Sunday, with California winning both of their games and New York/Connecticut
winning their second fixture against Texas/ Michigan (Zone Three).

New York/Connecticut had defeated New Jersey/Florida
(Zone Two) in their opening match on Friday.

They ended the competition with eight points to California’s
12.

New Jersey/Florida took third place with four points
while host team Texas/Michigan ended in the cellar without any points.

The competition was also used to select the United
States team for the Americas Cup Under-15 championship held in Bermuda
later this year. Orin
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